TENNIS; Bells Toll for Rosset in Davis Cup Upset

The Swiss cowbells, quieted by Andre Agassi's derring-do this afternoon, reigned supreme tonight as Switzerland's Olympic champion, Marc Rosset, upset the world's No. 1 player, Jim Courier of the United States, in a blustery five-set confrontation that evened the final round of Davis Cup competition at 1-1.

The stone-faced Courier and rubber-featured Rosset battled for nearly four hours just to reach the fifth and decisive set. Once there, Rosset surged ahead by two breaks, wavered, and finally held on for a 6-3, 6-7 (11-9), 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 triumph that left him flat on his back in disbelief and sent Courier from the court in a similar state.

Twice a set point away from burying himself in a two-set deficit against the player with one of the most devastating serves in tennis, Courier scrambled out of big trouble in the second set only to stumble in the fourth and take a terminal tumble in the fifth. The loss dropped Courier's Davis Cup record to a dismal 2-5, and between monosyllables in his cursory press conference, the player admitted that the Davis Cup atmosphere leaves him cold.

"It's not my favorite way to play," he said.

The mood was raucous during the four-hour-23-minute match. Courier, unnerved as much by the ruckus raised by the Swiss fans as by his opponent's 27 aces, sputtered expletives like a mantra throughout the waning stages of the match.

In contrast, Agassi's match was played out under almost clinical conditions. He got the United States off to the start it craved by pulverizing Jakob Hlasek, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2. On Saturday, the Swiss doubles team of Hlasek and Rosset will oppose John McEnroe and Pete Sampras to determine who gets the upper hand for Sunday's deciding two singles matches.

Courier was hogtied by the aces Rosset routinely delivered in devastating clumps.

After losing the first game of the third set, where a controversial overrule on a high backhand volley helped Rosset take a 1-0 lead, Courier trimmed his errors and made those of Rosset balloon. But in the fourth, Rosset's serve came back to haunt Courier, who bowed to Rosset in the third round at the Barcelona Olympics last summer.

Rosset prevailed and sent matters to a fifth set, where he promptly broke Courier with a sideline-splitting backhand and held serve for a 2-0 lead he improved to 4-1 before Courier broke back to 4-2 and held with an ace for 4-3. Next: Agassi the Heckler

Rosset served out the match and pronounced himself "perfect" for his doubles duty. Too, Rosset said he would cherish a Sunday meeting with Agassi, whom he labeled a heckler for his virulent support of Courier.

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Now coasting along on a 10-match unbeaten streak in this international competition, Agassi improved his Davis Cup record to 19-4 with this afternoon's businesslike victory.

That match took just 88 minutes, an appropriate duration for a player who took to the hardcourt dressed like a bumblebee with a piano keyboard stenciled from shoulder to midriff. In this case, Agassi was dressed to kill.

"There really wasn't too much I wasn't doing right," admitted Agassi, who allotted Hlasek just one break point, successfully reversed it, and gave himself a grade of "A-plus." Focused From the Start

Agassi said he had been fixated on the demolition of Hlasek since the moment he learned the draw had paired them.

The nerveless efficiency with which the 22-year-old Agassi dispatched 28-year-old Hlasek was a reminder that this is a final between what appears to be two very unequal contestant nations. The difficulty Courier had with Rosset, an erratic 6-foot-5-inch player with a slam-dunk serve, was evidence that, as players are fond of noting, anything can happen in Davis Cup.

"I was looking out my window and I saw all these red flags going by, and to be honest, it was irritating me," Agassi said. "And those bells are a little obnoxious. It's never as one-sided as you hope it's going to be."

Still, Agassi made it seem so as he stormed out to a 5-0 lead before permitting Hlasek to hold serves. The two ensuing sets were close to carbon copies of the first, with Agassi again building himself 5-1 cushions.

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A version of this article appears in print on December 5, 1992, on Page 1001029 of the National edition with the headline: TENNIS; Bells Toll for Rosset in Davis Cup Upset. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe